It's not just the songwriting, but rather what they did with the treatments on any given night. This is obvious when another band covers a Dead song. But many of the songs that arrived after '91 never developed beyond sketches. They had no hooks, were bare-bones versus-chorus arrangements, and the band seemed to have no cohesive idea where they were going. Back-in-the-day, songs came about fast, forming quickly in the live setting. By this era new songs plodded, never becoming musically defined. These should have been workshopped in band practice; taken beyond demo sketches and/or discarded. Like Way to Go Home. That said, this may be the single best example and is the version featured on the So Many Roads box. Not sure if this is the best edition of Lazy River Road but it's above average as well. Note that in '86 the band stopped playing Day Job after a fan petition begged that they'd kept it out past the due date. Maybe the Heads should have petitioned some of the post-'91 clunkers (if not the overplayed Push Comes to Shove).

First Set. You can find a better version of Touch but I doubt you can find a worse one (well, maybe 4/21/86). During tuning Jer teases Deep Elem (which hadn't been played since '83) and Standing on the Moon. He also teases He's Gone in a few places (until played in the 2nd set) of what sounds like a Bobby-led show. The first flash is a solid Row Jimmy. Bobby gets his acoustic (?) for Uncle in a fun version that well-isolates the drummers. This leads into Mexicali Blues, which Bobby interpolates into Big River in a cool rendering - albeit more of a tick-list than a repeat keeper. A clunky set with a solid middle that's above average for the era.

Second Set. Not one of the band's brighter career moments, though you probably can't find a better Way to Go Home. (Speedway doesn't have the a cappella ending; it has percussion accompaniment). The superlong Space>Spanish Jam (progressively stranger) is the other notable. A major tug-of-war of starts and hints finally resolves to a half-asleep Last Time. It can be argued that as Jer's voice got worse Black Peter got more emotive. It certainly has Vince's best additions.

1st Set:  C
2nd Set: D
Overall = 2 Stars (an extra star for a best-of-version and a decent stretch in the 1st set)

Highlights:
Not really but check out: Mexicali River - Bobby jerks into Big River; Way to Go Home - on So Many Roads; Space>Spanish Jam - Fans of the combo will need to tick this version.

SOURCES. Like most shows from the decline era there's great sound quality. The Runyon seems to have the best spectrum and balance but also has clicks, cuts and dropouts (the SBD has an intermittent AUD-mike, possibly potted for an ultramatrix). The overall-better GoodBear has some panning issues but few other problems. You have to go the AUDS (the LaPorte source is better) for the beginning of Samson. It can definitely be a '94 and still be a 2-star show.

As in the showtune from the musical Cats. Jerry starts riffing on the melody at 14:50 (approximately) in the space segment. Im sure others have noticed this but on the off chance no one has there you go identified.
I didn't find much fault with the show and actually picked this recording over the other ones I previewed for sound. Some flighty, flutey, fantasy work by Jerry using the MIDI during Row Jimmy, which I walked away from with an entirely new take after twenty three years of digging that tune. Way to go Home is really the best version of this song I've heard and I've heard plenty of them. It's much better than Samba and in an entirely different class than If The Shoe Fits which after one listen I wouldn't ever feel I need to hear another version of. Not my favorite Lazy River Road though it's pretty crisp.
There's not much fault and actually quite a bit here that I found pretty solid. It's '94, it's another era in the bands career than 72 or 77 or even 90 and it's not a two star show because you can't compare this group of musicians at all to the group on stage in 72 or 69 or 90. For the era the show is slightly better than average bothering on a low high rating and The recording is with a few flaws pretty nice. Good job Teddy G. and all involved. I'd give it three and a half but worse sounding sources I've previewed have four star reviews this copy deserves it more